The Real Grim
by Stripes of Scarlet
Summary: If you thought death was a black robed monster, then changed your mind after seeing Botan, you didn't know how true your prior accusations were. The original Reaper comes back after 100 yrs. of solitude and is quite pissed at Koenma for exiling her
1. Default Chapter

Shade- I had this idea inside of me for a while and then I puked it up

People- Ew

Shade- Shut up. I don't own YYH or anything that someone else thought of… der

ENJOY! (or else I will come out of the shade and scare the bejeebers out of you and yeah I said bejeebers, what?)

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Chapter 1: two week notice

Koenma was hiding under his desk in utter fear. His limbs were shaking and his eyes were popping out of his head as he was sucking the living hell out of his pacifier. There was a letter opener on the ground and a slightly crinkled piece of paper on his desk. He, for the first time in six hundred years, was afraid of the dark. But not the normal dark, not the time of the night where both the sun and the moon were hidden from view leaving you helplessly blind, he was afraid of the living dark. The one that gave him nightmares of vile demons ripping his limbs apart just because she scoffed at him that day. That's right, I said she. Koenma was afraid of a woman that he had known near his whole life. The woman he was supposed to exile two hundred years ago, but did it only one hundred years ago because he was scared.

If possible, even a tear went down his little baby face. He was down right terrified. When he had finally thought she was gone, here she is, right back up his ass with death threats. He trembled remembering the horrid things she would say or do to him like, well, death. Who wasn't afraid of death? Especially the slow and painful kind which was what she said she would do to him like she had done to so many humans and demons. She found joy in 'accidentally' murdering these people, and then scaring the crap out of them when they became ghosts. Telling them they would go to hell for their sins, she found glee in watching them cry in fear of her. Which was quite strange, since she had a soft face you never thought could ever do harm to anyone. It was the scythe that did that.

Human mythology said the grim reaper was a black robbed skeleton that came to you to warn you of your own death. Then touch you, and instantly kill you, departing you from the world forever. Some of that was exaggerated. I guess in human eyes, a skeleton is far more fearful than a tiny little girl looking person with a smile that could kill, not literally of course, though she did dream of that possibility. Seeing her before you die would be a virtue in some eyes, you know, if she didn't talk. But she did, because she found pleasure in fear as I have said before. And the one person she loved to scare the most was dear little Koenma. The boy she knew her whole life, the boy who one day in both their lives would rule the worlds, the boy who cried reaper every day, the boy with the weak bladder. Yes, this was the boy she loved to scare, and the boy she was scared to love. Love as a friend of course, how could a deity and a worldly felon be together as one? I don't know either.

Well anyways, back to Koenma. The crinkled note that sat wistfully on his desk, telling him of her return, her revenge, was proof. Two weeks, two weeks till she would be back is what the letter said. Sort of a backwards two weeks notice. Koenma didn't know how she was able to be released from Limbo just after a hundred years since her sentence was due for eternity, but he did not want to see her after he had done one of the scariest things in his life. Ha, scary. Then, he didn't know the true meaning of scary from the barer of bad news. Now that she's completely pissed, she will stop at nothing to get her desired revenge. And with her slender burdens working for her under that black cloth, she could kill the ruler of the world, and take it for her own.

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Shade- Please review


	2. Simple Letter

Shade- Here

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Chapter 2: Simple letter

Koenma, still under his desk, had called for Botan about ten minutes ago. When she entered, she was confused to find it with no presence. She looked from side to side still not sure if Koenma was there or not.

"Koenma?" She asked to the, what she felt, was empty space. Suddenly, the teenage formed head popped up from behind the desk, startling Botan. He was in his teenage form because it made him feel safer… and he was able to run faster.

"Koenma? What are you doing under there?" Botan asked as the rest of Koenma's body came out from under the desk and he straightened up a little so he would seem presentable aside from his huge eyes and fidgety body.

"She's back," was all he said. Botan looked at him with a confused look. Botan had never met the first Reaper, though Koenma didn't like to talk about her so how would she know? (She actually heard about her before, but never from the baby.)

"Who sir?" She asked still not knowing who caused Koenma to sweat, breathe heavily and all those nervous symptoms. Koenma didn't respond at first as he slowly grabbed and raised the wrinkled letter in front of him. He wiped a drop of sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand before speaking.

"Her." He was still at a loss of words as the thoughts of death ran threw his mind. His hand shook as Botan walked toward him and took the paper from his sweating palms. She tried her best to flatten it out, but when Koenma had read it the first time, his hands tightened with fear around the rim of the paper.

Dear Koko," Botan started, "Koko? Who's Koko?"

"Just keep reading." Koenma said, forming the longest sentence he had in the past five minutes. Botan looked at him confused, but continued.

"Dear Koko,

Hello. I guess that's the only thing I can say since I lost all respect for you when you put me here. I know you didn't think that I respected you, but in a way, I did. But away from that, I would like to inform you of my return. Should I write that again? Why not? _My return._ Yes, that's right, I'm coming back. Just a few minor obstacles till I am free to go and free to wander among the living. I figured it would be most proper to tell you of this prior to my immediate arrival in two weeks. I do hope you have some form of safety at your beck and call because you will need it. You see, being in Limbo for one very interesting century can affect a person, and a reaper.

Also, when I do return, I will expect my job back as the Grim reaper to the worlds. After the fall out, I have gotten a very annoying itch to kill, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. We both knew that I had the ultimate power of the two of us yet I still restrained it from you for unknown reasons. However, now the gloves are off so to speak, and I can't wait for these two weeks to be up. One more thing, you will probably be receiving this letter a good week and a half after I have written it so expect my presence very soon. I am sure our meeting will be very special… and we both know I have no problem with wearing black to funerals.

Good bye, and hello,

Grim

Botan stared at the piece of paper trembling at the letters simplicity. So short, and straight forward. How could the former reaper write something as this? Could the experience in Limbo actually have torn her so much as to bring her to the break of insanity where speak like this is haunting? A bit deep of an idea from just a letter but hey, anything's possible in Limbo.

"Who?" Botan tried to speak.

"I mean, other reaper?" She said and brought her head up to meet Koenma's frightened eyes. He was not looking at her but seemed to be in thought as he was thinking of everything he had before after reading the letter the first time. Hearing the second time was worse.

"She was the one before you." He managed to say, still in thought.

"She sounds so, so, correct for the job." Botan said rereading the words _annoying itch to kill _and _I have no problem with wearing black to funerals._ Koenma looked up at Botan abruptly in surprise.

"Correct for the job?" He asked sort of ticked now. He goes from fear to anger often… then goes back to fear. He rounded the desk to stand up to Botan.

"Correct for the job?" He said louder. Botan was very surprised at Koenma's weird outburst and got a little frazzled.

"That woman was the worst thing to happen to the three worlds since Hiei! She went against near every rule we have in the reaper business! She subconsciously murdered demons and humans for her own sick pleasure in watching someone weaker than she shrink in fear at her disturbed power!!" At this point, Koenma was really close to Botan's face with his own that had an enraged look which again scared her. He then turned around and put his hands on the desk, reverting back to the end of his fear sequence… fear.

"Call the guys and get them here fast. I will need their assistance in the happenings of the next few days. Tell them to prepare well and not take anything lightly from here till the end of this issue." Koenma said.

"And when will the end be sir?"

"When we get her back into Limbo." He said simply. Botan nodded and turned around to leave before Koenma spoke again.

"One more thing Botan," they turned around to see each other, "tell them all to bring black lace to wear as necklaces, and if they can, carved figures of angels out of swan bones." He said quickly, not quite knowing how long ago she had written the letter, meaning that she could come at anytime.

"Why sir?"

"Just do it!" He yelled mad at Botan pointless questions as it was obvious that this was important. She jumped up at his outburst and turned around and ran out fast to inform the boys. Koenma now was breathing heavily, suddenly feeling less and less safe by the minute. This woman was crazy before she was exiled to Limbo, which meant that now she was all the more insane. Koenma had feared this woman his whole life, though everything she did to him was a game. Nothing quite as serious as ultimate death since she would have had it from Yama if Koenma were to die at her hands. So she messed with his mind. Games, all games! But now, he knew that since he had deceived her, she was not afraid of killing him, not afraid of playing a final game of treachery. She wanted her revenge, and usually, she received her revenge.

'Just to make sure,' Koenma started to think, 'I'll get the angel figures myself.' He walked around the desk and took the phone out of its cradle and put the receiver to his ear.

"Ogre, I need an urgent order."

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Shade- That was number two. Sorry it was short again. But thank you to the seven reviews I got, that defiantly made my day since my other stories aren't getting much since I've been updating. BTW, yes I have two different versions of Limbo as you can see if you compare this story to The Devil Man. When I wrote that I hadn't seen the episode where the horror of Limbo was revealed but whatever. If you like this story, I think you will like The Devil Man. Both dark, both involving hell in a way.

Please review


	3. thicker soul

Shade- Three… I don't own YYH

Extra note: Please give me name ideas for the Reaper. I have no idea what the female grim reaper's name would be. It's not like I can name her Bubbles or Fluffy. Maybe… Bambi? NO! Please help me in deciding and give me your thoughts or else I won't update.

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Chapter 3: Thicker soul

Death. The end to all pain is what everyone thought. However, for the unfortunate, it was just the beginning. She was the barer of bad news, the final nail in the coffin, or most well known, the Grim Reaper. Well, was the Grim Reaper. Her own personal and worldly sins threw in the spiral of eternal silence also known as Limbo, and for one century she had the time to think of her mistakes.

Mistake number 1: Trusting the lineage of the ruler of the world

Mistake number 2: Letting that same man trick you into a split second of kindheartedness

Mistake number 3: Trusting someone in general

Mistake number 4: Not hiding those murders well enough

Mistake number 5: Agreeing to watch over the complete incompetent jackasses also known as humans

And that's all she thought about for those long hundred years. Never did her sins ever pass through her distorted mind. She never thought twice of the whole reason she was there because she still thought of her murder sprees as helping the Earth. Helping them escape the stupidity of those she killed. Though her work was not completed. She was stopped too soon by the hands… and pacifier… of justice. Ugh, justice. The fairness and validity of mankind. How she hated mankind, and those that inhabited it. She would get her revenge, and all those who'll soon die have little Koenma to thank…

"OGRE!" Koenma yelled. He was pacing around his office fearing every creak and noise he heard. Since the letter did not have a date to it he was afraid of her coming back at anytime or any moment. He continued pacing as ogre ran into the room with his hands cupped with items in them.

"Yes sir!" He said as he skidded to a stop as to not run into Koenma. He looked down at him afraid of what he'd say to him. Koenma had on a mixed face of fear and anger. He looked down at Ogre's hands and saw the angel figures.

"These are swan bone, right?" He asked worriedly. Ogre nodded wildly to tell him that they were.

"Of course sir!" He then dropped the angels into Koenma's hands for him to examine them. Koenma closely looked at them to make sure they were pure. Luckily, they were perfectly carved as they were a hundred years ago when he used them first.

'Good, looks like they'll still work.' I looked deep into the curves of each angel making sure they were perfect. The contours were human made and the finished projects were dipped in holy water. Let's make an example of how holy water affects the Grim Reaper.

Superman is to kryptonite as Grim Reaper is to:

Justice

Holy water

Ruler babies

All of the above

Any answer works, but holy water is the worst. We all remember the melting witch from the Wizard of Oz right? Well, that's nearly the same thing. Everyone has an enemy and a weakness and it's always better if other people don't know those weaknesses. However, since he knew her for so long, Koenma knew all her weak spots just like she knew his. Now, he would have to take advantage of all those as far as he could possibly take them. She would be here soon, and she would be crazed with the lust to kill. He's gonna need help and security as she had suggested.

"Ogre, tell me where are the guys?" Koenma asked the blue skinned monster who then started to answer him.

"Kurama and Hiei will be here shortly, Yusuke and Kuwabara will come later." Ogre said. Koenma looked at him sort of angered. He walked up to the much taller ogre.

"What do you mean later? I need them now!" He yelled and flailed his arms up in the air nearly hitting the ogre. The ogre jumped back fearing that Koenma was trying to do more to him that what was delivered. What could he say? He was used to getting hit for no reason at all. After seeing Koenma had turned around to think, he went back to a more normal position glad that he hadn't gotten slapped across the face for once. He perked up as he saw Koenma was turning back to face him.

"I NEED THEM HERE NOW!" Koenma yelled after his deep thought process. He, once again, raised his arms above his head and whacked ogre over the head making his go starry eyed. Oh well, so much for dreams and hopes. Ogre tried to compose his self and stood back up to talk to Koenma.

"I will get them here as soon as possible sir!" Ogre got ready to run out of the room quickly to find Botan and the rest but was stopped by Koenma's all familiar voice.

"What do you think you're doing! You can't leave me here alone! She might come today and I can't be here without security!"

"But sir, what could I do? I'm not brave enough stand up against her!"

"You won't need to stand. You can just sit on her or something, she's not that big remember? Plus, I can use you as a shield." Koenma said bluntly, that made Ogre take a big gulp before whimpering from fear. He too had known this woman and knew she was rude, dangerous, deadly… okay mostly deadly, that scared him the most.

"Ok sir, I'll stay." Ogre whispered out of fear. Suddenly, there was a burst in the door, and out of the blue came five new presences in the room. First came Botan, then Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara and last Yusuke. They all had somewhat 'cheery' faces, so Koenma assumed Botan had not told them why they were here. Or maybe she did and they didn't know the capacity of danger the next couple of days would be.

"Hey toddler, I hear you're scared of some girl who used to be death." Yusuke said as if it didn't matter at all. Koenma scuffed at Yusuke's remark and ignored him. Botan intruded for a second.

"Yusuke, this woman is really not someone to take lightly. She was the original grim reaper you know."

"Yeah, well you're the grim reaper now and you couldn't scare bunny rabbits." Yusuke said to her. This time, Koenma intruded.

"You know the common myth of the grim reaper? Black robed, skeletal body and the power to kill you with a simple touch of the hand?" Koenma said to Yusuke who nodded.

"Well imagine that, but a thousand years younger and a woman." Koenma said and turned back around to get the angel figures. He grabbed them up off his desk and turned back to the rest.

"You all have a string of lace correct?" He asked as he handed one angel to each boy and Botan. They all nodded and showed him that they had them.

"Good, string these angels onto them and be prepared." Without question, they did as told. They didn't know a lot about this shunned reaper but Hiei and Kurama had heard rumors. One rumor was that she really was crazy and killed humans for fun. Another was she lived off of blood like a vampire and took the reaper job for easy access to the blood. But of course, these were just rumors.

"So, tell me Koenma, how exactly has this girl been able to have gotten out of Limbo?" Kurama asked as he was stringing his angel on then putting the black lace around his neck.

"God forbid I know, I just got a letter from her and she says she's coming back." He answered.

"And you're taking her word for it? You of all people should know the horrors of Limbo and you actually think someone is getting out with unreasonable ease? She's probably just playing with your mind." Hiei put in, not believing anyone could spontaneously just leave Limbo at will.

"You don't know her like I do. She has her ways of doing things. I myself never figured out how she is able to do these kinds of things that just defy so many rules and get away with them but she does." He said, feeling safer with the others around for the first time in the past few hours. However, that new found safety would quickly disappear.

Abruptly, out of no where, the lights quickly went out, making Botan (and Ogre) scream, the others went on immediate alert. Suddenly the temperature of the room went way up, as what seemed to be a new presence entered the room slowly, slow enough to feel each and every power molecule enter silkily. Then, a quiet laugh slowly reverberated throughout the room as if it came from every angle. You could not depict where exactly in the room she was located because her power as well as her cackle was seemingly everywhere. No one knew what to do since they couldn't see two inches in front of them, but Koenma had nearly frozen in his spot. He knew this odd presence and had feared it most of his life. He hadn't been subject to it's feeling in a hundred years and now it felt worse than ever. Its aura was thicker, and deeper than before. More scars had scrapened her core causing it to thicken with muscle and strength. She was better prepared for her plans now, she was a century stronger and a century wiser, so she was all the more lethal to him and the world. Koenma was more worried about him than the worlds since he could feel her cold, oddly cold, breathe down his neck. One thing that he didn't know was that every other person was feeling the same thing, a chill running down the spine of their back through the bodies and souls that they inhabited as she said. No one was a true living thing, just a soul that was seen through a physical body that could be easily wasted. She enjoyed scaring people, and that was her intention right now, to scare these people so they wouldn't get in her way. She sat in the deep shadows enjoying the scene in front of her. Several people, one being the boy she grew up with, cowering in fear of her and being too scared to move as all the could do was watch the cold breath that past their faces in the overly warm room. Yes, she quite missed this.

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Shade- Okey dokey, I need name ideas for this girl. I'm stupid and can't think of anything and if you guys don't give me ideas I'm going with Bambi… I don't think that fits and I think you'll al agree with me. Please review me.


	4. Hello my name is

Shade- Thank you to those of you that reviewed and gave me name ideas. It was really hard deciding… actually I haven't decided yet but I will at one point, der.

ENJOY! -Scary smile that scares small children and pregnant women-

Small children and pregnant women- We're scared

Chapter 4: Hello, my name is…

There they stood, frozen in the warm air of Koenma's office. Waiting for the first movements of the reaper, each one frantically looked from one side of the room to the other trying to see a body, a shadow, anything that might give away the location of this evil woman. Nothing. Her body, no where. Her shadow, it was the whole room. Nothing at all was giving away this girl's position, because her presence blended so well with the rank, and dark surroundings. Her aura was perfect for such an appalling atmosphere, and she was taking advantage of that perfection.

"_Hello,"_ echoed throughout the depressed room. After such a long silence, the entrance of sound in everyone's ears frightened them. The voice they heard was in such an eerily way sweet that it scared them to believe it belonged to the one and only grim reaper. It sounded so young yet so aged, and experienced. It scared the crap out of them.

"_What? No greeting? For shame…" _Her voice rang out and bounced off of the walls. The room seemed so dank, and abandoned with her in it. No sound at all besides her own voice, dripping with sugary yet bitter at the same time.

"_That's an interesting form for you Koko…"_ She said again. No one even ruffled their eyebrows in wonder of the nickname from fear of what she might do because of their movements. Of course they found it amusing, but what was happening at the moment wasn't really an amusing scene.

"_I must say, you are quite handsome…" _

"Who are you?" Koenma asked, surprisingly, to the voice in the dark. He stood sort of shaky, he was still afraid to move as was everyone else since they didn't know what the girl would do, plus the fact they were mentally and physically paralyzed from fear helped a bit too.

"_What do you mean Koko?" _The voice asked so innocently, yet still a little confused as to why Koenma had asked the question. Don't say he'd forgotten about her, had he? She wasn't enough of an impact? Of course she was.

Your voice, it's-" Koenma paused in slight worry and took a gulp to clear his throat, "it's not the same one as before."

"_Same as before? Oh, how stupid are you?" _She said with a strange charm behind it, sort of mocking him. _"It is me, the grim reaper…"_

"It can't be…" Koenma whispered.

"_Well it is. My voice has changed drastically for one inparticular reason. You see, I couldn't get out of Limbo for free. So, in exchange for my freedom, I gave up my natural voice for a more normal one. I must tell you, the process of which it changed was quite painful, though worth it… I hope…"_ From all she just said you could tell she wore a smile on her face at the end of her speaking. I wonder what her natural voice was like. Probably one of those voices where you hear it and you're instantly killed unless you have special powers. I guess they were lucky that she didn't have it anymore.

"They took your voice?" Koenma asked with a hint of sympathy in it.

"_Yes, the second object of my being that I held dear. But to get what I wanted, something had to go…"_ Now the conversation was seeming more real than before, less scared and awkward tension between the two. They seemed to be talking with each other as if they cared for each other. No one else dared to speak a word, not knowing if they would corrupt the newly lifted pressure in the room. Although, the others did have something to focus their attention on away from Koenma and the reaper, and that was the warm feeling around their necks.

Yes, the angel figures were starting to warm up in the presence of what was making them activate. Soon their power would spread to make the area of it so large that it would force the reaper to leave. That is, if she didn't notice them first. As she breathed her freezing breath down each of their necks, they only prayed that they would work.

"Are you going to reveal yourself or just stay in the shadows?" Koenma asked. With every minute that passed by he felt more and more safe for no reason at all. He stood, trying to stall her long enough till she would be trapped within the room because of the angels' power. One thing that they had an advantage on was the fact that she couldn't see them, so she had now idea and it was only a matter of time.

"_No, I feel like waiting a bit longer, you know, just taking in the sight of old office. Boy, I haven't been in this room for years…"_ She continued on.

"Yes, sorry not much has changed."

"_That's all right, I like it the way it is. Hm, it seems idle chitchat has overcome me. I never thought that would happen with **you** Koko. I really should get back to the reason I came. I've waited near a century for it so why am I slowing my pace down so quickly now? When you're right in front of me, just waiting for the inevitable…"_ Her voice suddenly got caught in her throat. As the darkness retreated to the deep corners of the room, a thud was heard near the far corner, where it was the hardest for the light to reach. Everyone, with the instant change in temperature and the departure of that chill down their spine, spun their heads toward the space. All they could see was a black figure with a long black handle protruding from under the dark cloth. Long black hair was sprawled out around the cloth like the legs of a spider that seemed dead because of its lack of movement. Looking down around their own necks, the guys could see their angels were surrounded in a deep abyss of darkness that was held together by the lace that rounded their necks. They didn't know, but an invisible force was keeping the reaper away, where the only safe place was in the corner. No one dared to move. They only stared at the figure as if it would blow up if the air around it was corrupted by movement. Next, the girl started to move.

Everyone formed a lump in their throats as her head was lifted from the floor, though her hair still covered her face. She didn't seem to be hurt, she didn't seem to be anything since you still couldn't depict any emotion yet. Then, she took her hand and put her waist long hair behind her ear. She had a glove on her hand and she curved it around her ear and placed it softly back onto her scythe. In the still somewhat darkness of the corner, her eyes appeared to be sunken in, as if they were not there at all, and the only thing that was filling them was pure shadow. You could also see her thin and pale lips form a perfect line across the bottom half of her face. They revealed no anger, and they revealed no joy. They were neutral. Slowly, she turned her head toward the rest which caused them all to stiffen up. She stared through each one as if reading their souls. She got through each person till she finally landed on Koenma. She took the longest time with him. She could tell his soul had changed since their last meeting, it had more skeletons hidden within them at the very bottom so no one could find them. But she would.

She formed a mini smirk on her face and rose to her feet in a floating motion with no use of her legs. Her scythe was still on the floor and she opened her hand so her palm was facing it and it quickly rose into her hand. The light shone off of it and glared everyone in the eyes. They could tell that she still had a smirk on her face and her straight black hair flowed almost to the floor. She cracked her deadly fingers that were hidden by her gloves before she spoke.

"I know you have those same angels as before Koko. They won't work now, I took the time to learn to resist them. They just caught me off guard at first." Everyone, including Koenma didn't answer her, they were too surprised and shocked that the grim reaper was standing in the same room with them. She would've looked so innocent if it weren't for her evil glare and deadly smirk.

"How?" Koenma asked in marvel of the way she looked. Exactly the same, just the way she was meant to be.

"I learned many things in Limbo Koko. That was only one of them." It was now that she took the time to actually _look_ at the other people in the room, look at their physical bodies and see what their features were like.

"Oh pardon me, I am so rude. Hello, my name is Zlyana." She reached her right hand out as if she were going to shake their hands, even though they were too far away to touch. They still stared at her oddly happy nature and her smile that showed to be pure, but was really evil with a disguise.

So, it has been a hundred years since Zlyana, the Grim Reaper to the worlds, roamed among the living and the dead. With every possible precaution, with every security available, she was too strong to be contained in one space. Soon, she would reign again, and reign rightfully she would, in the spot that originally belonged to her. She would prosper in her own work again as she used to do, and she would be happy. Happy to destroy the world.

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There you go! Thanks for everyone's ideas, it was really hard to decide between all the names but Zlyana, or "dead beauty", seemed to be the best fit.


	5. Every Hero Dies at Some Point

Shade- number five… I don't own them.

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Chapter 5: Every Hero Dies at Some Point

"What? No hands shake? Okay, be that way." Zlyana retreated her hand from in front of her and let it swing be her side. The whole group just stared at her, imagining what happened to her in Limbo and how she overcame it.

"Zly- Zlyana, you're- you're actually here." Koenma was barely speaking above a whisper. He was afraid to move, seeing her for the first time in a hundred years surprised him so much.

"Yes Koko, I told you on that faithful day that you would regret it all. Don't you remember?" Zlyana cocked her head to the side, giving Koenma time to remember.

A Hundred Years ago

"Take her away and lock her up." Koenma was standing behind his father, peering at Zlyana struggle in the arms of the guards. He found himself gripping the bone angel figurine around his neck tighter as the guards began to struggle as well with keeping Zlyana under control.

"Let go of me you vile pigs! I will take your souls and make you eat them to the last energy beam before you put me there!" As Zlyana kept trying to kick her way out of their grip, she tried her hardest to get her hands out of the straight jacket that kept them plastered to her body. If she could just get them out and get some skin to skin contact she could free herself.

"You brought this on yourself Zlyana. Committing sins beyond all reason, and after we trusted you with the job of Grim Reaper. I can't believe this." Koenma's father really did have a liking to Zlyana straight from birth, but he had no choice but to exile her.

"They should be happy for what I did for them! Those stupid humans, I had to watch them everyday, living their pitiful lives like the shit they are! I'm surprised I never murdered myself before. But I did them a favor killing those idiots." Zlyana had started to weaken in her fight to get free.

"Zlyana, I am very disappointed." Enma just stood there and stared, slightly teary eyed, at Zlyana. "Koenma, come say good bye." Enma stepped aside, exposing his scared son. At first sight of Zlyana's calm body, Koenma shrank into a ball and grabbed his angel and stuck it in front of him, still scared to death of her. At the angel's power pressured closer to Zlyana, she grimaced in pain that the mixture of angels, pure bone, black lace and holy water did to her. She opened her pure black eyes and peered at Koenma, actually showing sadness in them.

"Come on." At the lowering of Zlyana's defensives, the guard took advantage and gripped harder on her tiny arm. She winced as the guards walked away. Then, quickly getting over her sad feeling, she had the meanest face plastered on her. She stared straight at Koenma, striking fear in his heart, even with her departure.

"You'll regret this Koenma, trust me for ever and for always, you will regret doing this." With that, Zlyana gave Koenma a death glare to the highest degree and striked a chord in his heart with her black as coal eyes. The guards stood at the edge of never ending darkness, and threw her in. She never spoke another word.

Present

Koenma gulped, remembering what had happened. He looked at Zlyana straight in the eye for a split second before looking away.

"That's right Koenma; you were a scared little baby. Even with this taller stature, you are still the scared piece of crap I last saw cowering over in fear at the gates of Limbo." Zlyana started to walk closer and closer to Koenma, her scythe still in hand and dragging across the floor, creating a quiet scratching sound.

"And I will now dispose of you. No hesitation, no fun, no games," She said as she rested her scythe in the crook of her bent arm and slowly slipped her silk glove from off her right hand and continued forward toward Koenma. As everyone else backed away as far from Zlyana as they could get, Koenma stayed frozen in his spot, staring at the withered hand of the Grim Reaper. Yes, that's right, Zlyana's actual body showed almost true to her real age; it was the face that presented her only youth. Even with the body of a dead corpse, she could move just as fast as she needed to get her pray. As she carried on closing in on Koenma, she stuck her rubbery fingers out in front of her ready to touch Koenma on the cheek; ending his life instantly. No one could escape the power that Zlyana held, and that's why King Enma needed her on his side. It was too bad that she couldn't be good and had to use her deadly power for bad.

"Don't do it, please don't do it." By now, Koenma was teary eyed and broke down to his knees, staring at the wrinkly hand come closer to his own smooth skin. He trembled all alone as everyone else in the room could only watch in horror. Then, as Zlyana closed in on one inch till his face he made one more plea. "Please, don't do it Yanny..." Koenma then sucked in as much breath as he could and closed his eyes tight, waiting for what was to come. However, at the name spoken, Zlyana froze herself. She looked down at Koenma's trembling face in nostalgia. Then, she laughed.

"Don't even try to save yourself with that one _Koko_." She spoke in hatred and nearly spat the nickname she had given Koenma. He opened his eyes in surprise and looked up at her as best he could through his blurry vision.

"This is where the regret should kick in." She cracked her knuckles single handedly before coming even closer to finally end her grudge. Her dirt covered, skeletal hand finally was about to touch Koenma's forehead before she was stopped.

"No!" All of a sudden, Yusuke tackled Zlyana to the floor away from Koenma. After hearing the scuffling and thud on the ground, he opened his eyes and saw Zlyana struggling beneath Yusuke's body. He knew Yusuke wasn't safe.

"Yusuke! Get off of her!" By now, the whole room was erupting in screams and people running around, afraid of what could happen now.

Zlyana was being held by her wrists to the ground and she couldn't bend her hand well enough to touch Yusuke's own so she tried her best to get him off. Seeing that it wasn't working, she made a plan in her head. Opening her hand, she called for her scythe fly into it since it had fallen to the ground when she was blindsided. The deadly weapon flew across the room, its blade facing forward. Yusuke couldn't react fast enough and only saw metal when he had turned his head around. Barely a second after that, the blade sank into his skin.

Crying out in pain, Yusuke removed his hands mistakenly and brought them to his quickly bleeding face. Then, following her planned out attack, she ripped Yusuke's hands from his face with her glove covered hand and followed in with her bare one. She grabbed hold of his face, letting her skin melt into his own, and listen in bliss at his pain filled screams.

"Yusuke!" An array of voices screamed his name as they watched him die. Zlyana then sat up; overpowering Yusuke's weakening body till she had her hand digging his head into the floor. Soon enough, a dark mist slowly came around his body, collecting it to take it to the other side. Zlyana never let go of his face till the mist had finally worked its way up his body and covered the tip of his head. As the picture of Zlyana leaning over a blanket of dark mist slowly faded away as the haze evaporated, the onlookers only watched in fear. Slightly panting, Zlyana stood up.

"Who's next?" Before she could take another step, ogre came bursting into the room covering his eyes with one arm as he screamed and ran forward with something in his outstretched arm. Then, at its close presence, Zlyana shrank away under a coat in pain. It seemed there was another object that could defend Zlyana's awesome power, and it was in ogre's hand.

The light shined off of the 12 inch gold cross in ogre's left hand. Encrusted in it were lines of diamonds, with the largest center jewel being a pink diamond that rested in the crossing of the vertical and horizontal lines that made the cross. Ogre retrieved the item after hearing that there was no struggle in Zlyana's voice when he listened in from the other side of the door in worry. He assumed that the angel figures were not working and headed to get the big dog that would more then definitely fend off Zly.

He removed his arm from in front of his face and saw that Zlyana was now rendered defenseless from the excruciating pain of the cross. He slightly smiled though was still a little afraid as he continued on closer to her. She shrank away more, shuffling away as far as she could get. Finally, she couldn't bare the pain anymore, and tried to a last attempt to free herself from the pain. With the little energy she had left, she thrusted her body into the air, and swung her scythe straight at the hands of ogre, using its extending ability to her advantage. Then, the gold cross that was in his hands broke in half, releasing its full power into the little room. With one last bloodcurdling scream, Zlyana disappeared from the room, relieving her pain, and destroying the one thing that could stop her. Everyone was still frozen in their spots, surprised at what had just happened.

"Yu- Yusuke..." Tears filled Botan's eyes as she stared at the spot his body was just laying. Nothing. Nothing was there now, he had gone to the other side, and because Zlyana sent him there the way she did, she was the only one who could retrieve him in the same way. She brought her hand to her trembling mouth when she finally just broke down and cried.

"He's gone. I can't believe he's gone." Kuwabara was blanked face. Not truly understanding it all just that quick. Kurama and Hiei had just lowered their heads. Koenma stood from his knees and walked to the window, trying to stay composed of what just happened; Zlyana's return and Yusuke's death in thought.

"She's out there... free." Koenma was speaking to his self as opposed to everyone else who weren't really listening anyways. "We have to get her. She has to pay for what's she's done now."

--

Please oh please review.


	6. Welcome Back

Chapter 6: Welcome Back

It was a dark night in spirit world. By the death of their savior, and the return of immortal evil, no one was the same. A black cloud hung over the kingdom, which hadn't been seen in over a century. And that particular black cloud only meant one thing; death.

Word quickly spread over the three worlds, there were some demons who could just tell something was wrong. Yusuke is deceased, and the Grim Reaper is afoot. Panic spread from the vegetated forests of north Makai to the high mountains of the rigid south. Every demon that could comprehend knew the danger they were in. Many demons had heard of Zlyana and her many man and demon slaughters, some stories were exaggerated to be told as tall tales, others were personal experiences that scarred them for life. Either way, there was a certain level of fear embedded into every demon that day. The deepest fear was if she killed a strong fighter such as Yusuke, who couldn't she kill? Who would be next? When?

Something was falling through the sky at incredible force. It seemed nothing more than possibly a dead bird, shot by an arrow perhaps, but as it fell closer and closer to the world known as Makai, it became very clear what it was.

A dead body flew down from the sky head first; half covered in a black cloth, and collided with the calm surface of a small lake in the middle of nowhere. Animals and small demons in the trees jumped a little and started to yell, scream and disrupt the others. The wake slowly rippled away from the center of the water until it nearly smoothed out, letting the sounds of the forest be calm again. That was how it went, till the silence was broken again by a scythe spinning through the air and sticking in the ground. Nothing happened for the next few seconds, until the glassy surface of the water was broken again.

A black figure rose out of the water, seemingly floating without the help from its legs. A black cloth rose behind it, coming off after the collision. As the figure rose higher, its body became clearer and clearer to see. Rubbery patches of skin scarcely covered it all. Pure white bones showed through as well as slowly decomposing ones. Long, straight black hair clung to the body and within her open ribs that cased no organs but simply a black hole of a soul.

The body floated forward, keeping the very tips of its toes touching the water and creating a small wake as it moved. When it reached the ground, it grabbed its scythe and held it firmly in its hand. Shifting, it moved its wet clothes around so it covered the inhuman skeleton showing under it. Still hovering over the forest floor, the body lowered itself and touched the grass with its rubbery soles and started to walk.

Elsewhere

Silence. There was nothing in the room besides it. Whether eyes were wide or watery, no one had missed the scene that just occurred. All of those eyes were on the floor, staring at an ashy gray stain that was the only thing left of Yusuke Uremeshi. A clank was heard as something dense hit the floor. The golden cross that ogre had in his hand slipped out, broken into three pieces before it hit. No one had noticed it though, their stares still resided on where their friend had just been. His death seemed surreal, unable to be true. How could they believe that Yusuke Uremeshi; Spirit Detective, wielder of the Spirit Orb, one of the strongest fighters the three worlds had ever seen, just died? The only thing it took was the touch of death to send Yusuke away. And if she could do that to him, there was no telling who else she would do it to.

"Ko- Ko- Koenma? Is there any way we can bri- bring him back?" Botan was the first to speak. Her words formed through scattered breath and quiet sobs of despair. She felt woozy and swayed in anxiety till her hand found Koenma's desk. She gave all of her weight to the desk, and sank to the floor. Koenma didn't seem to hear, but he responded.

"N- No. At least, I don't—think we can." Koenma sounded despondent. Though he looked like thought had risen from his mind and he couldn't focus, ideas and theories were running through his head to try and see if they could bring him back. Finally, as if just realizing it, he tore his eyes away from the floor and looked up. "Yusuke? Are you here? Are you here Yusuke?"

At the attempt, it seemed everyone else took notice of the fact that they were in Spirit World. Yusuke's soul should be floating somewhere around in the room. Botan's eyes had widened, realizing what exactly she could do. After seeing the death of her friend, all her thoughts completely left her mind. She looked up as well, hoping she would see him. But he wasn't there. Just as Koenma had suspected.

"Koenma? Where is he? Why isn't he here!" Botan had become hysterical by now. Nothing made sense to her anymore. Just a while ago she was here in Koenma's office with the others and they were awaiting the arrival of this strange girl who she had only heard about in stories. As a child, she was more sensible than the others, and told herself that no one like that could truly exist. But now, she had seen those horror stories firsthand, and she knew the truth now.

"He's not here, because he's with Zlyana."

At the words, everyone looked up from the ashes to Koenma, still in his stoic state.

"Why would Yusuke be with her? Isn't his soul free to wander?" Kurama had found the voice to speak. He was still utterly surprised and devastated, however. Hiei stood as quiet as he always was, though he feared what would come out of his mouth if he tried to speak. Instead, he just closed his eyes. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was trembling. Watching him, Koenma doubted he had comprehended anything that was said after Yusuke's death.

"Souls cannot wander if she is the one to kill you. She takes hold of them, depositing them in Spirit world whenever she likes. Although, before we would tell her when to, but now—she has the upper hand."

"Shut up! All of you just shut up!"

The seemingly calm conversation was interrupted by the emotional outburst of Kuwabara. He was on his knees now, tears staining the dry ashes of Yusuke's remains. He continued to sob as everyone else looked to him in sympathy and waited to see if he would continue.

"Kuwabara?" Kurama moved to him and tried to comfort him. He placed his hand lightly on Kuwabara's shaking shoulders but he tore away from Kurama's touch. Kurama sighed, and stood back.

"He's not gone, he's not! He can come back!" Kuwabara continued his cries of denial. Standing up, he reached out and grabbed Koenma by the collar, and pulled him to his face, tears still rolling down his cheeks. He was breathing heavily, eyes trembling in their sockets as he looked down at the somber deity. He looked about on the edge of truly breaking down, but he wanted to get words out before that. His breathing was heavy, and his breath made Koenma's hair move. The others in the room reacted quickly to Kuwabara. However, they only moved their eyes to the two of them, surprised at Kuwabara's burst of despair.

"Kuwa—?"

"Tell me," Kuwabara spoke, interrupting Koenma. "Can he come back?" He was still breathing heavily, and Koenma was still in slight shock. Several seconds went by with Koenma just staring at Kuwabara's wet and determined eyes. "Can he!" Kuwabara's strong voice snapped him out of his reverie and he spoke.

"Yes." His voice was quiet, but still caught the attention of everyone in the room. Kuwabara started to loosen his grip in surprise. Something in the back of his head was telling him that Yusuke was gone forever, just like he thought before when he was hit by the car. But he fought that belief. He fought against it and finally convinced himself it wasn't over after hearing Koenma's answer.

"How?" Botan had regained some sort of composure and had propped herself up against the desk. She stared at Koenma waiting for an answer.

"Zlyana has killed people she wasn't supposed to before. Since we aren't prepared for them, she keeps them for herself to torture. But we always made her bring them back to life, and she always obliged. Though she was never happy about it." By now, Kuwabara had let go of Koenma and stood back to listen. "I don't exactly know how she does it, but she has the power to bring those who aren't supposed to be dead back to life. We need to find her, and get her to do it."

"How do you expect that to ever happen?" Eyes shifted again, this time to Hiei. This being his first time speaking, the others were slightly startled. "She is clearly out of her mind. After what she went through in Limbo, it looks like there's no way she would answer to you anymore. How can you get her to agree to bring him back? Hm? How can you convince death itself to follow your orders?" Hiei's pessimistic views were putting an even bigger downer on them, more than they needed.

"I—I don't know." Koenma dropped his head in anxiety. He let his bangs cover his eyes and he closed them in anger and sadness.

"We have to try! We have to find her before she goes and destroys everything! We need Yusuke back!" Botan had found some sort of confidence after hearing there was a way to get Yusuke back. Though her voice still wavered, she still had hope. Koenma looked at her solemnly.

"We have nothing to defend ourselves. The angels don't work like they used too. She's built up some sort of immunity to them, but they can catch her by surprise. And the cross," Koenma spoke in confidence that he acquired from Botan and looked at the cross that Zlyana had broken, his confidence suddenly dropped.

"Can we fix it? That thing worked! It blew her out of the frickin' room! We can fix it! We need to!" Kuwabara became hysterical once again and sprinted over to the pieces of the cross that were on the floor, next to Ogre's feet.

"Kuwabara no!"

But it was too late. Kuwabara's fingers rounded the bottom of the cross and he was sent flying. He exploded from his position and fly back into the wall, hitting it with a bang and falling back down to the floor. It was quiet after that. Kurama and Botan ran to his side to see if he was fine, and Hiei stared at the pieces of the cross that lay lonely on the floor. He started to walk over to them but he was stopped by the arm of Koenma. Looking up, he saw Koenma's razor sharp eyes.

"This is not fit for demons to touch either, Hiei. I would explain, but it's too complex. Right now, we need to fix it."

"If it did that to the human with the sixth sense wouldn't it still be sufficient for her?"

"No. It would only push her back a few steps as it is. Its effect is stronger as one. She can't even be near it. Ogre, take these and work on fixing them, soak it Holy Water for seven hours."

"Koenma—"

"Do it." Koenma's voice was stern, and Ogre understood. He just nodded and picked up the broken cross and walked out of the room.

Elsewhere

Zlyana sat smiling. Though she still felt the effects of that damn cross, she was happy where she had landed. Her body instinctively went to demon world. How nice. She was positioned against a tree, her scythe running across her lap. She was trying to regain her energy to continue on. Trying to rest up, there was an upset feeling in the place where her stomach would be. She tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop. Its incessant annoyance wouldn't letup, so she decided to free herself of it.

"Well come on out, then."

At the words, a white cloud looking thing came out of her ribs and floated in front of her. She looked at it and concentrated to make it take form. Slowly, as she hadn't done this in a while, the form began to take shape and it looked just like Yusuke.

"What the hell?" Yusuke's spirit had formed with his back toward Zlyana, as she wanted. He looked around and saw he was in the forest.

"Almost." At the sound of the voice, Yusuke whipped around in surprise and yelled as his spirit flew back. He stared wide eyed at her and patted his chest. Or as well as a spirit with no physical body could.

"You're—you're!" Yusuke couldn't finish his sentence as he looked into the hollowed out sockets of the true Grim Reaper. It was just then that he noticed he was floating. "What the hell!" He started to flip around in midair and scream at the same time. Zlyana cocked on eyebrow at him as she watched him. Part of her wondered if she had truly killed one of the most feared fighters in all the three worlds. As doubt ran through her, she decided to stop this crazy boy's antics.

"You've already said that." She started to stand up now, her energy high enough that she was fine now. Yusuke stopped and looked at her. He floated in a crisscross position and was level with Zlyana. He stared at her in confusion, but didn't hesitate to do what he did next.

"Spirit gun!" Yusuke had pointed his index finger at Zlyana and tried to put his spirit energy into it. But nothing happened.

"You can't really be Yusuke Uremeshi can you?" She started to walk forward. Instinctively, he floated backwards, and he freaked out as he felt himself floating once again.

"What's going on? What happened!" Yusuke kept floating back but then he stopped quickly, against his will. Zlyana walked up to him, putting her face mere inches from his own, so he could stare into the back of her skull.

"You're dead. I killed you."

Yusuke's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it.

"But—"

"Shut up. You're irritating me." Instantly, Yusuke's mouth shut closed. He looked down at his mouth and tried to pry it open with his hands. Zlyana just grinned. "You may be wondering why you can't back talk. Easy answer, I control you. Now, if you would be so kind as to stop fidgeting—" Zlyana planned on controlling the rest of Yusuke's body to do as she wanted, but something she didn't expect happened.

"Screw you bitch!"

'_He got out of my control?'_

"Well, well, you seem to be a strong one. That's good, that's very good." Zlyana began laughing under her breath, which made the pit of Yusuke's whatever he may have now as a spirit, just churn. For a second, he thought that life itself was going to be over.

--

Shade- Reeeeaaaallly choppy and not like the other chapters but I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. Sorry for those who didn't like waiting, it's just I wasn't watching YYH so I wasn't inspired. But now I've discovered anime on the internet. However, my school starts really soon so don't expect any burst of updates. But honestly, reviews do inspire writers to continue. So if you want more, let me know.


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